Puerto Rico - Council 95 Takes it to the Streets
Puerto Rican public employees protest Gov. Luis Fortuño’s decision to lay off 17,000 government workers.
Puerto Rican public employees protest Gov. Luis Fortuño’s decision to lay off 17,000 government workers.
Photo Credit: Miguel Maldonado
San Juan, Puerto Rico
Puerto Rican public employees—including thousands of members of Servidores Públicos Unidos (SPU)/Council 95—flooded the streets of Hato Rey, a neighborhood in San Juan, to protest Gov. Luis Fortuño’s decision to lay off 17,000 government workers. Led by SPU, labor unions and thousands of their supporters across the island called for a one-day national strike last fall, closing government offices and schools.
“The Puerto Rican people will not take this abuse,” said SPU Pres. Annette González. “We’ve sent a clear message to Fortuño that we reject his ideology of privatization. We will not stop until he understands that these measures are not the way to pull us out of an economic crisis.”
“In a recession, smart leaders borrow money to turn things around,” AFSCME Pres. Gerald W. McEntee told SPU members in San Juan. “Now is the time to stimulate the economy, not to shut it down.”
The All Puerto Rico for Puerto Rico coalition is coordinating the protests against Fortuño’s plan to balance the island’s $3.2 billion budget deficit on the backs of working families. Invoking Law 7, a bill that overrides collective bargaining agreements between the government and unions, the governor has fired thousands of workers during his first year in office.
In a dramatic demonstration of opposition to the governor’s proposed layoffs, 19 union leaders and members—including some affiliated with SPU—occupied the Office of Management and Budget in San Juan in December, while others protested and sang Christmas carols outside the agency.
